From “Power of the Worthy” to “Power of the Popular”: Splendors and Miseries of Meritocracy in a New Technological Era

IF 2.9 1区 哲学 Q1 ETHICS Journal of Political Philosophy Pub Date : 2021-12-09 DOI:10.30570/2078-5089-2021-103-4-100-114
D. Davydov
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Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of meri tocracy, which arouses considerable interest today both in political journalism and academia. The article shows that meritocracy has largely become the ideo logy of modern neoliberal elites, and therefore often serves as a cover for the actual plutocracy. Although the framework of cognitive capitalism witnesses a certain movement towards meritocratic principles of the formation of elites, it simultaneously prepares ground for the emergence of a kind of “trap of meritocracy”, when, for a number of reasons, the layer of “educated and talented” turns into a hereditary caste. At the same time, according to the author, the future hardly belongs to meritocrats, no matter how well they fit into the realities of the high-tech economy. New developments in artificial intelligence are jeopardizing many forms of intellectual work, leading to a cut-throat competition for a decreasing number of high-paying jobs. In turn, the bourgeois world of labor is being replaced by a post-capitalist world of idleness and creativity as the production of intangible goods. The rapid development of social media makes emotional and social intelligence, as well as the ability to achieve popularity and influence through media activities, increasingly important. In other words, modern technology makes life difficult for cognitive elites, while opening up enormous opportunities for very different social groups. In this regard, the author puts forward a hypothesis according to which popularity will become a key criterion for the formation of elites in the foreseeable future rather than merit. Postcapitalist personocracy will gradually replace bourgeois meritocracy, which, however, does not exclude the possibility of the preservation of the myth of meritocracy, implying that those who can skillfully attract attention will be assigned various merits.
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从“有价值的权力”到“大众的权力”:新技术时代精英政治的辉煌与苦难
本文致力于研究meri tocracy现象,这一现象在今天的政治新闻学和学术界都引起了相当大的兴趣。这篇文章表明,精英政治在很大程度上已经成为现代新自由主义精英的意识形态,因此经常成为真正的富豪政治的幌子。尽管认知资本主义的框架见证了精英形成的精英主义原则的某种运动,但它同时也为一种“精英陷阱”的出现奠定了基础,因为种种原因,“受过教育和有才能”的阶层变成了世袭种姓。与此同时,根据作者的观点,未来几乎不属于精英,无论他们多么适应高科技经济的现实。人工智能的新发展正在危及许多形式的智力工作,导致对越来越少的高薪工作的激烈竞争。反过来,资产阶级的劳动世界正被一个以生产无形商品为目的的闲适和创造性的后资本主义世界所取代。社交媒体的快速发展使得情商和社交能力,以及通过媒体活动获得知名度和影响力的能力变得越来越重要。换句话说,现代技术使认知精英的生活变得困难,同时为不同的社会群体提供了巨大的机会。对此,作者提出了一个假设,根据这个假设,在可预见的未来,人气将成为精英形成的关键标准,而不是功绩。后资本主义的人才制将逐渐取代资产阶级的人才制,然而,这并不排除保留人才制神话的可能性,这意味着那些能够巧妙地吸引注意力的人将被赋予各种功绩。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
4.10
自引率
5.60%
发文量
17
期刊介绍: The Journal of Political Philosophy is an international journal devoted to the study of theoretical issues arising out of moral, legal and political life. It welcomes, and hopes to foster, work cutting across a variety of disciplinary concerns, among them philosophy, sociology, history, economics and political science. The journal encourages new approaches, including (but not limited to): feminism; environmentalism; critical theory, post-modernism and analytical Marxism; social and public choice theory; law and economics, critical legal studies and critical race studies; and game theoretic, socio-biological and anthropological approaches to politics. It also welcomes work in the history of political thought which builds to a larger philosophical point and work in the philosophy of the social sciences and applied ethics with broader political implications. Featuring a distinguished editorial board from major centres of thought from around the globe, the journal draws equally upon the work of non-philosophers and philosophers and provides a forum of debate between disparate factions who usually keep to their own separate journals.
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